Toshiba mothballs Cumbrian nuclear power project

A new nuclear power plant at Sellafield looks to be in serious troubleOWEN HUMPHREYS/PA

The troubled engineering giant Toshiba is preparing to mothball its project to build a £15bn-plus nuclear power station in Cumbria.

NuGen, the company developing the plant planned for Moorside on the Cumbrian coast, has written to suppliers to warn them it will have to slash spending amid financial turbulence at its Japanese owner. It is also set to order staff who have been seconded to the project from other companies to return to their employers.

The 3.4 gigawatt plant, capable of powering up to 6m homes, had been due to plug into the grid by 2026. However, it has been thrown into doubt by Toshiba’s financial crisis. The Japanese industrial giant has been hammered by ballooning costs on two nuclear reactor projects in America. Toshiba…

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